Aside from the usual things—peace on Earth, a lottery win, a pony (that’s a hold-out from when I was a little girl)—all I want for Christmas are:
AUTHOR EVENTS.
I used to get so nervous before a book event that I’d
swear I’d never do one again. Now I miss them like crazy.
BOOKSTORES.
Remember back when we could go to a real live bookstore?
See our books placed lovingly on the shelves?
CONFERENCES.
From Pop Cats to the Cat Writers Association Conference
to the Las Vegas Star Trek convention, 2020 was cancelled and it looks like
2021 may not be much better. I can’t wait until it’s safe to go out again. Besides
the joy and vivacity of the various events, I love staying in hotels and
ordering room service.
EXERCISE.
OMC! Did I say the E-word? I’ve never been the one to go
to the gym or play sports, but BC (before Covid) I got a certain amount of
exercise in my daily life. Now my biggest exertion is moving from screen to
screen—laptop, computer, TV, phone. I don’t have the desire or discipline to do
pushups with Richard Simmons, but if I don’t get going, I fear I’ll turn into
Jaba the Hut.
FELLOWSHIPS.
Zoom is great! I don’t have to dress or brush my teeth. I
can even set a background so my associates think I’m in Hawaii or the Louvre
instead of my messy office. But online chats will never replace in person
events, no matter how hard everyone tries.
MEETINGS.
I belong to several writers’ and other groups that hold
regular meetings, at least they did BC. Some have moved to Zoom, but
others have fallen by the wayside. Hopefully when this is all over, those groups
can move forward again. We’ve lost so much during this pandemic, but I have
high hopes for people’s enthusiasm about what comes next.
NEW IDEAS.
You’d think working on four books would be enough to keep
me busy, and it is, but all four are in various stages of editing. I have
nothing new to wrap my head around, which may be for the best since my head isn’t
working all that well these days.
PRESENTATIONS.
Another in-person event put on hold, presentations, both
mine and other people’s, were one of my favorite pastimes. I’ve done a couple
of them on Zoom but felt such distance from my little audience of squares, I
preformed poorly. Sorry about that.
REVIEWS.
I know people are reading. What else do we have to do
(besides Netflix and Amazon shopping?) so why aren’t I seeing a rise in book
reviews? Maybe everyone’s stunned into silence by the current events. I know I
am.
SLEEP.
I don’t know about you, but my sleep cycle is all messed
up. I’m awake half the night, then dog-tired after lunch. What I wouldn’t give
for a good night’s sleep where not a creature is stirring not even a cat—I
mean, mouse.
